A Pattern In Tea Leaves
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Rose Weasley takes Divination, against her Mother's advice. The results aren't quite as Rose would have imagined. Next Generation.


**A/N: **This is just a little something that's been nagging at me. It's somewhat Rose x Scorpius. But it's really just a nice little one-shot. I'm gonna keep this short. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. I just enjoy playing in JK Rowling's world. "D

**A Pattern In Tea Leaves**

Hermione Granger had no qualms about expressing her distaste for the subject of Divination. She found it to be the most offensive waste of a magical education. A student's time could be better served in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, or even Muggle Studies. She knew she may have been bias, as she had abandoned the class after making minimal effort to cooperate with her eccentric professor, but she held her stance on the matter unyieldingly. She couldn't support a course that was based more on chance and bullshite than on academic intellect. When she was married and had her own children grow up to the age where they chose their new courses at Hogwarts, she made sure to reiterate her point countless times.

However, contrary to her mother's beliefs, Rose Weasley decided to take Divination. Her cousin, Albus Severus had concluded that the course would gain him high marks easily as it had for his brother James. Rose found her cousin's lapse of academic integrity in course selection astounding—he gained more of his brother's more ill received traits each day. Rose took it upon herself to set him straight as James only encouraged his bad behavior and Lily and Hugo felt no need to meddle in their older family members' business. It was after all just one course at Hogwarts. They all had Potions and Transfiguration and Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts to worry about. So, Rose took the course with every intention of proving Albus wrong. She would show him that the course required dedication and hard work to ace it.

But after less than a week in the god awful class, Rose was as frustrated as she believed her mother must have been when she was attending the class. They weren't being taught anything of educational value and as it were the students were "destined" to fail if the professor didn't decide that they had the "eye." And aside from the professor's rare and seemingly random predictions of doom and death, there was so little excitement that the class was nearly as boring as History of Magic. Rose would never admit it, but she believed Albus was correct. One could easily pass the course with flying colors if they were able to conjure up some make believe prediction that was fancy and dramatic enough to catch the professor's attention. Both Albus and Rose were skilled enough to do so, and unlike her mother (much more like her father) Rose did not feel guilty in doing so to earn her marks. Besides, Scorpius Malfoy had taken the course as well and had become somewhat of a favorite to their professor. She couldn't have him making higher marks than her. She had made the vow to beat him in all things their first day their first day at Hogwarts and she had yet to fail. No, she would not be walking out like her mother had done—she would make her professor believe she was a seer with the all powerful eye if she had to stage a foretelling of a prophecy to do so.

The most testing day was the first major demonstration of skill: the reading of the tea leaves. Rose had paired with Albus at their small table, and after drinking down their tea they switched cups. Rose smirked at him as she cradled his cup in her hands. It was one of the rare few times her Weasley genes shone through—both she and Hugo were more like Hermione Granger than of the Weasley brood, but they had their mischievous sides.

"Are you sure you want to know your future Albus Severus Potter? Are you ready to hear your fate?" Rose replied dramatically.

Albus only sighed in response, "Can we get this over with? Maybe she'll dismiss us early if we finish quickly. I want to get to lunch."

"Okay children, can I have a table volunteer to demonstrate?" Their professor suddenly asked. Most of the tables of students tried to look busy skimming their texts for the meanings of symbols as she passed. Then she arrived at their table, "How about you Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter?"

Rose blushed a deep crimson—she couldn't help doing so, it occurred whenever attention was called to her unexpectedly. Albus simply ducked his head. Rose could hear Scorpius start to snicker on the other side of the room. She clutched Albus's cup tighter as she sent the blonde boy a deathly glare. Their professor clapped her hands almost excitedly.

"Go on Miss Weasley. What do Mr. Potter's leaves read?"

"Well," Rose stared down into the cup. She rotated it around a few times for good measure, looking as if she was observing it from all angles. She cleared her throat as she prepared to explain what she saw in his cup, "That there looks something like an acorn, which, according to the text, means windfall. Unexpected gold. You are going to acquire a sudden, maybe even unexplained fortune. But what's this? A cross, definitely a cross. The cross represents trials and suffering in your future. Perhaps your sudden financial status will be the _cause_ of your trials and suffering."

"Very good, Miss Weasley," their professor praised and Rose grinned. "Now, Mr. Potter. Can you do as well as she in reading her tea leaves?"

Albus swallowed hard, but began without taking much time observing her cup, "There are two shapes here. The first is a sun which means uh," Albus flipped through a few pages of his text, "_Great Happiness_. Well, that's good right Rosie? But…oh…it comes connected to a Falcon. And that means," He used a finger to trail down the page. He tapped it where he found what he was looking for, but he paused before he said it out loud. He looked up and made eye contact with Rose. She frowned, thinking he was making too much of a show of something so simple. He finished with his voice low, just audible to the class, "…a deadly enemy. You're going to have great happiness through or with a deadly enemy."

"But that doesn't make sense now does it?" Rose questioned. She was vile to call him out in front of their professor, but he could have at least put together a more plausible however phony answer.

"The future is a mystery, Miss Weasley," their professor responded. "And even we with the gift can only see what we are given. Maybe when the future comes it will make more sense to you. I want to hear another table's interpretations."

As the professor crossed the room, Rose broke out into giggles. She slid Albus's cup back over to him, "I can't believe she bought that. I was completely improvising. All I saw were dried up clumps of tea leaves, and I don't suppose the text has any interpretations of 'dried up clumps.' How did you come up with mine? Did you pull it out of your arse?"

"I wasn't joking," Albus shook his head. When Rose continued to look incredulous, he added, "Have a look for yourself."

Rose's expression turned serious as she took the cup from Albus. She titled it into view. She held back a gasp as she clearly observed two shapes slightly connected: a sun and a falcon. _You're going to have great happiness through or with a deadly enemy._ She figured it had to mean nothing—it was purely coincidental—or at least that's what she told herself as she packed up her things at the end of the lesson. Then, of course, as she tried to put it from her mind, she began to obsess over it instead. Deadly enemy, she didn't have a deadly enemy. The closest thing she had to an enemy was…

"Well, well, well…Rosie Weasley."

….Scorpius. Rose stopped in her tracks in front of him. He was perched against the wall in the hallway outside their Divination classroom. She cursed herself for having Albus go on ahead of her to lunch while she took a few moments to collect all her things. Scorpius pushed off the wall and stalked forward until he was right in front of her.

"Did you know my tea leaves predicted me great happiness too?" Scorpius replied.

"Did they now? I was hoping the Grim might pop up in there…and do us all a favor," Rose quipped.

Scorpius ignored her comment, "Do you know what would bring me great happiness?"

"To finally beat me on an exam? Or perhaps to actually win a Quidditch match against me and the Gryffindor team?" Rose smiled. She had immense pride that Gryffindor had continued to take both the House and Quidditch Cups since she arrived at Hogwarts and joined the team, respectively.

"Ha ha, your wit astounds me Rosie, really," Scorpius mocked, "But no…"

"What could bring you great happiness then? If I evaporated into thin air?" Rose scowled.

"No—actually that one sounds pretty good," Scorpius smirked.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Why do you have to be such an insufferable arse?"

"Excuse me?" Scorpius stepped closer to her.

"You heard me," Rose drew herself up to her full height. Scorpius was a good head taller than her, but she refused to be intimidated, "I said, _why_ do you have to be such an insufferable arse? Why? There must be a reason. I mean, none of us have done anything to you. You argue with James over Quidditch, which only makes you look like a sore loser by the way. You rail into Albus about his name, when in all honesty it's a touch better than _Scorpius Hyperion_. And you're always trying to provoke me over silly things. If it's because of some deep seeded insecurity about me being better than you, you really shouldn't be worried. You may be second to me in overall marks, but you're only a hairs breath away from being dead even. You really should learn to keep your temper in check."

"Look, Rosie, you're the one who started all this," Scorpius sneered, folding his arms across his chest.

"How so?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"You're the one who has waged a personal vendetta against me," Scorpius exclaimed. "You get some strange satisfaction out of beating me."

"I like to do my best. I make it my goal to earn perfect marks. If my pride at doing well appears to be pride at doing better than you, then it's merely coincidence," Rose tried to side step the fact that he had pinned her dead on.

"No, it's not about doing the best or being the best. It's about beating me," Scorpius shook his head, "I get the feeling that we could both fail a course, but as long as your marks were at least a notch above mine you could still be pleased with yourself."

"That's not true," Rose mumbled.

"You keep telling yourself that," Scorpius replied as he began to walk away. "And you know I don't like this, this psychological argument thing. I think we should go back to yelling at each other and cursing each other over nothing. I liked it better that way. More fun, less effort."

As Rose headed off down the hall in the opposite direction of Scorpius, she frowned. That had been the most _civil_ argument they had ever had. And she couldn't fathom why it had occurred.

-+-+-+-+-

As the year went on, Rose completely forgot about the day they read the tea leaves. In the end, she passed the course with the highest marks—with Scorpius and Albus coming in second and third behind her, respectively. After the first year, she never took another Divination course. She decided instead to focus on more academic studies. The only thing she continued to associate with that day or Divination all together was the lessening severity of her rivalry with Scorpius over the next few years.

It started with that "civil" argument and gradually expanded to being simply civil in the classroom, then the halls and then at meals and then on trips to Hogsmeade. They were fighting less when they were in public and when it was just the two of them, they began to _talk_ to each other. The two found they had more than a few things in common. They both had parents who demanded academic and overall excellence. They both had parents with reputations that as their children they were either trying to live up to or live down. And they both had genuine interest in the gathering of knowledge. Upon that last realization, they began to study together—claiming an isolated table at the back of the library as their own. They became friends without even realizing it. So when they were named, unsurprisingly, Head Boy and Head Girl they were almost thrilled. They did their rounds together without complaint—the corridors echoed with their laughter as they patrolled for any wayward students. Eventually, their final year drew to a close and with N.E.W.T.s completed. They had only a final graduation ceremony left to prepare for ahead of them.

They were in their final days at Hogwarts and Rose was packing up her trunk. Scorpius had finished packing and crossed the hall to see if Rose needed a hand. He found her scurrying back and forth around her room, random items flying into her trunk at high speeds. He smiled as he leaned against her doorway to watch. When he noticed she was talking to herself under her breath, checking off an invisible list, he couldn't help but laugh. The sound drew her attention to him.

"Scorpius, what are you doing?" Rose questioned, a hand raised to her chest, "You scared me."

"Sorry, Rosie," Scorpius stepped into her room, "I was going to ask if you needed help, but you look as if you have this covered."

"I was about to take a break. Sit with me?" Rose sat down on the edge of her bed and patted the spot next to her.

Scorpius moved forward and plopped down next to her, "How you doing Rosie?"

"I can't believe we're done here," Rose responded. "I remember my first day here…I felt like it would never end, but here we are."

"Are you happy Rose?" Scorpius tilted his head to look at her as she answered.

"Yes I am," Rose nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I've been thinking about some things a lot recently. Do you remember when we had Divination together?" Scorpius asked.

"Of course I do."

"Do you remember the day we did tea leaves? Albus predicted you 'great happiness through or with a deadly enemy.'" Scorpius continued.

Rose laughed, "How do you remember that? _I_ haven't even thought about that in years."

"I just have a good memory, I guess," Scorpius replied, "But I was thinking about that prediction. You never knew this but…my partner gave me the same prediction that day."

"You're lying," Rose shook her head.

"No, back then it was just strange, but now I wonder…" Scorpius trailed off.

"You wonder…?" Rose prompted, looking at him closely.

"I wonder if it held some significance," Scorpius finished.

"It must have been a coincidence," Rose waved it off.

"But Rosie, think about it. You and me, at the time, were the closest thing we each had to an enemy…who else could it mean? So the question really is…Do _I_ make you happy?" Scorpius turned his body completely toward Rose.

"Of course you do Score," Rose answered. "This year has been my happiest here at Hogwarts and it's mostly due to you."

"And you Rosie found a new way to make me happy every day," Scorpius smiled, "So, is there something we can do to preserve that feeling?"

"How about you take me out to dinner sometime after graduation?" Rose responded. "A real date, no more of those are they or aren't they escorts to Hogsmeade."

Scorpius flushed pink, "Okay."

"Okay," Rosie repeated with her grin widening. "I guess our professor was right. It makes more sense now than it did then."


End file.
